Colby College Civil War authority
to speak at Holt Community Day

Dr. Elizabeth D. Leonard, Colby College associate professor of history, will be guest speaker at the Sixth Annual Holt Home Community Day, Sept. 27, at the Judge Joseph Holt Home in Hardinsburg.

The 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. program will include period and patriotic music, living history presentations and a visit from members of the Thomas Holt family. Thomas was the brother of Joseph Holt who was the first U.S. Judge Advocate General (JAG).

A specialist in 19th century U.S. history and Civil War women’s history, Dr. Leonard is the author of  “Lincoln’s Forgotten Ally,” a 2011 biography of Judge Holt that seeks to restore his rightful place in American history.

Dr. Leonard, the John J. and Cornelia V. Gibson Professor of History, has taught at Colby since 1992. She has written three other books on the Civil War: “Yankee Women: Gender Battles in the Civil War,” “All the Daring of the Soldier: Women of the Civil War Armies,” and “Lincoln’s Avengers: Justice, Revenge, and Reunion after the Civil War.”

Her book about Holt is the second biography about the Breckinridge County native.  “Lincoln’s Advocate,” by Susan Dyer, Friends of the Holt Home president, was published in 2009.

Remarks and greetings will be provided by Breckinridge County Judge Executive Maurice Lucas and exhibits will include the Kentucky Historical Society’s mobile museum and learning lab. Also on hand will be the 9th Michigan Volunteer Infantry, the Fort Knox Army Band Quintet Dragon Brass, members from the Fort Knox Judge Advocates Office, the Kentucky Home Guard Band and the Guilderoy Byrne Band.

Others include the 12th Regiment Colored Heavy Artillery, Larry Elliott portraying Abraham Lincoln and storyteller Judy Pierce.

The Holt House was constructed circa 1850 during the time of Judge Holt’s national service in Washington from 1857-1875. The Breckinridge County native served as Commissioner of Patents (1857), Postmaster General (1859) and Secretary of War (1860) under President James Buchanan before being named the nation’s first Judge Advocate General by President Lincoln in 1862.

His most memorable role as JAG came when Holt presided over the 1865 trial of the Lincoln assassination conspirators.

The Holt House and surrounding 19.5 acres were acquired by the Breckinridge County Fiscal Court in 2008. The 6,225-square-foot mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is undergoing extensive renovation.

The Friends of the Holt House coordinates fund-raising efforts and events for the property.

The Holt House is located at 6205 Highway 144 in Hardinsburg. Additional information is available at
www.jholt-houseky.org or by calling 270-756-2269 or 270-756-2573.